


Monkey On A Pedestal

by Harmonylizz



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Alternate Universe - Theatre, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Connor Bowers is a good guy, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, M/M, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Pennywise happened but they are okay and coping well, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Pennywise (IT), Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is Whipped, Richie can sing!, Richie is a good actor, Richie is just touch starved, The drowsy chaperone - Freeform, he just wants to be gay loved, just a theatre kid au because why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23403109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harmonylizz/pseuds/Harmonylizz
Summary: Losers Theatre Kid AU no none asked for.“I have a proposal” Bill announced, slamming a poster down in the middle of the lunch table, making Eddie just three feet in the air.Richie laid a hand on his shoulder “steady on, Eddy boy” he said in a mock calm.Eddie was about to retort when Stan spoke up.“The school play?” Stan scoffs“Why the fuck would you want that?” Eddie joins in “Only losers join theatre”“Come on guys! I thought we were embracing our loser standing. This could be fun!”Fun is not the exact words Eddie would use. More like awful. Embarrassing. The last thing he would ever do in his entire life.“I for one thing it’s an marvellous idea, Billiam, my good lad” Richie exclaimed, Brittish guy in full swing.AKARichie auditions for the musical to be a good friend but ends up getting a big role. Richie becomes busy with the school production, and Eddie becomes jealous. Connor Bowers is the director and is a lot nicer than Richie remembers. Richie is just a gay mess who might be in love with two boys.Idk how to write summaries but I promise it will be cute. Theatre Kids Unite!This is my first story so please be kind!
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Audra Phillips, Connor Bowers/Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	1. Friday I'm in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for popping by, I hope you enjoy!  
> I'm sorry for any spelling errors, I spelled checked as best as I could and I have no beta.

Richie's POV

_Richie sat diligently at his desk, radio playing and recorder stationed beside it, his finger hovering over the record button. WXFM had an hour of rock from seven to eight and Richie was determined the catch The Cure’s new song for his mix tape. It was forty-five minutes in and Richie was starting to get a little nervous._

_What if they just didn’t play it?_

_Maybe it was a sign from some higher power?_

_Just as he was about to put his recorder down and maybe pick up some homework or something, the familiar riff began._

_Friday, I’m In Love._

_So perfectly casual but intimate and fun and kinda sexy…it immediately reminded him ofEddie. When he first heard Friday I’m in Love, he knew he had to add it. The pièce de resistance for Eddie’s mixtape._

_Richie had meticulously curated a combination of songs from Elvis to Blondie to hopefully express to Eddie how he felt about him._

_You see, Richie was great at expressing his feelings if the feeling was a dick joke, but love was a bit harder. It was hard but it felt inevitable. His affection filled his brain like battery acid, if he never said anything eventually it would just leak out of his ears. Probably at the worst possible time, with his luck. So He worked away at the perfect mix tape in hopes that one day it would make it into Eddie’s walkman on a quiet sunny afternoon._

_Just as he was scrawling Eddie’s name on the label, there was a banging at his window. He looked up startled, to see the familiar doe eyes._

_He dropped his pen and went to unlatch his window, looking at the boy curiously._

_Was this fate?_

_“My sweet dearest Eds, not that seeing your cute little face isn’t always the highlight of my night, but what the fuck are you doing here?” He asked, ushering his friend in with a grand sweep of his hand. The boy stumbled in, out of breath._

_“I-I” he stuttered through gasps of breath “I was listening to that radio station you like” the boy began “And I heard a song and it made me think of you and it made me realize”_

_Eddie pulled himself up from the floor and took Richies hand into his._

_Richie’s heart beat out of his chest. More than just the normal amount when he was around Eddie._

_“Richie, I know it’s not Friday but I’m in lov-“_

The bell rang and pulled Richie out of his daydream.

 _God,_ Richie thought to himself. _How fucking pitiful._

Why did always have to dream up such horribly romantic situations? Why couldn’t he just imagine girls in the locker room like a normal seventeen year old boy?

He packed up his untouched pencils and AP Trig textbook and glanced at the board for the homework that he probably wouldn’t do either.

He looked to the door and his heart fluttered just a little and an embarrassingly dopey smile took over his entire face. There was the man of the hour. The man of every hour, of every day, of every year, waiting for him across the hall. Eddie Kaspbrack himself. He stood there scowling and tapping his little foot and just looking frankly adorable!

“God there you are! Why the fuck do you always take so fucking long to leave that goddamn class? You move like a long ass, slow ass… Fucking Sasquatch, I don’t know” He automatically fell into his usual spiel. Some how managing to call him something new every day. Oversized squid, teenaged werewolf, string bean with glasses. It was honestly impressive.

“And hello to you, Eds Spaggeds, my good fellow” Richie threw his arm over his best friends shoulder and they made their way through the crowded halls.

Eddie glared but left his arm there which was a win in his books as far as Richie was concerned.

“Don’t you dare fucking call me that! And what the fuck is that on your face? Is that spit? You are so gross. Do you just sleep all class? How are you a fucking A student?” Eddie continued. His arms karate chopped through the air as he rambled on.

“While this are all incredible questions, I am choosing to ignore all of them. Wanna come over after school and read comics?”

“Yeah, totally! I’ve been wanting to show you some of my dads old comics I found. I’ll meet you at yours!” And just like that Eddie was beaming and going on about Wolverine and Rogue.

God, he was endearing.

Richie’s sweet little crush on his best friend was not sweet or little. In fact it was like a huge awful zombie bite that had been festering since he was thirteen, growing by the minute, making him more and more incapable of being a normal human being. And like a zombie bite, if anyone foundout he had it, they’d kill him on the spot if it didn’t kill him first.

His feelings weren’t exactly something he wanted but he was done fighting them. He was just doomed to be in love with his best friend. He was over feeling like he was broken or messed up because nothing that could make him feel that soft and happy could possibly be that bad. And if this was the devil working through him, Richie’s gotta remember to write a thank you note.

Not that it wasn’t killing him inside, too. But you can’t have the good without the bad.He was okay with that.

What he had going was pretty okay. He got all of Eddie’s attention if he was annoying enough. If he stayed in the hammock past his turn, Eddie would basically cuddle him. Sometimes they even had sleepovers and shared a bed. If Richie accidentally touch poison ivy, Eddie would stand between in legs and rub his hands with ointment.

It was pretty okay

***

Eddie's POV

Richie and Eddie made their way through the crowded halls to the cafeteria. Richie had slung his arm over his shoulders and spoke into his ear as they walked. The boy had no concept of personal space but that was just Richie. Eddie was used to it, it wasn’t the worst by any means.

Ben and Bev had made it to the table first. Beverly was in the middle at laughing at some probably boring story Ben was telling. They had been spending a suspiciously large amount of time together since the school year started, which was good for Ben since he’d been in love with the girl since the Sumer before freshman year.

Richie slumped down into his seat next to Bev and as always, took up way too much space. His limbs were a mile long and he couldn’t control them in the slightest.

“Sup fuckers” he greeted in a way only Richie could.

“Move the fuck over” Eddie shoved Richie out of his spot, grabbing Richie’s hoodie and neatly hanging it on, the back of his chair.

“Anything for you, hon” Rich responded with a wink as he wrangled himself in. It brought a heat to Eddie’s face that he could only assume was anger.

Richie was surprisingly amazing at many things from video games to school. But his greatest skill was probably making Eddie angry. From the awful nicknames to just being downright disgusting, Rich knew all the right buttons to press. That was the reason Eddie followed him around the way he did. Always had eyes on him, always beside him, always in his business. It was to keep him in check, obviously.

_Obviously._

Stan and Mike made it to lunch next. Stan’s locker was all the way on the other side of the school on the third floor yet he still insisted on going before lunch to drop off his things. Mike and him shared a math class so he just went along as a good sport.

Bill was still missing though, which was odd, seeing as his science class was just down the hall and he was always there before he and Rich got there.

The gang all headed to the food line, save for himself since there was abso-fucking-lutley no way in hell he was eating food made in their disgusting high school. The rest of them could risk their lives and colons but Ed brought himself a packed lunch, thank you very much.

Eddie was half way done his tuna salad sandwich and about three shin kicks away from winning his competitive game of footsie with Richie when Bill finally decided to show up.

“I have a proposal” Bill announced, slamming a poster down in the middle of the lunch table, making Eddie just three feet in the air.

Richie laid a hand on his shoulder “steady on, Eddy boy” he said in a mock calm.

Eddie was about to retort when Stan spoke up.

“The school play?” Stan scoffs

“Why the fuck would you want that?” Eddie joins in “Only losers join theatre”

“Come on guys! I thought we were embracing our loser standing. This could be fun!”

Fun is not the exact words Eddie would use. More like awful. Embarrassing. The last thing he would ever do in his entire life.

“I for one thing it’s an marvellous idea, Billiam, my good lad” Richie exclaimed, Brittish guy in full swing.

“Of course you do, Nutbrain. You’re such a theatre kid already” Eddie spat back

“What! Am not, dipshit. My dicks too big to-“

“Well” Beverly cut in before Rickie could ruin her lunch “I think it’s really cool that you want to join theatre, Bill. I’ll join with you.

“Thank you Bevvy. The only loyal loser!”

“I figured you would need someone to help you not make a fool of yourself in front of Audra” She shrugged before winking

“What, n-no! Ugh, I take b-back! All you losers are t-trash” Bill had grown out of his stutter as he got older but it still liked to creep in when he got nervous or flustered.

“I actually like The Drowsy Chaperone, so I’d be happy to join. Maybe not acting but I’m sure I can work on sets or something” Ben jumped in.

“Yeah! I wonder if they’d need help with lighting, I have experience” Mike added.

“Except you Ben and Mike. You are both perfect and wonderful”

“What the hell even his a drowsy chaperone?” Eddie asked, surprised he was even humouring this.

“Sounds like Eddie’s mom a couple drinks in on our weekly date night”

“Shut the fuck up Richie!” Eddie spat “That doesn’t even make any fucking sense. If you’re on a date with my mom then she’s not your chaperone. A chaperone is- you know what, I’m not even getting into this with you. Fuck off!”

Ben the angel, the ever patient and sweet angel answered Eddie’s question as if he wasn’t interrupting the beginnings of an impending blow out. “It’s a musical about a wedding in the 1920s but the narrator is the guy listening to the old record. Like this cool fourth wall things. It’s pretty funny actually.”

“Look at that, new kid on the block is cultured!” Bev smiled over her slice of pizza and nudged his shoulder. Ben flushed red.

“well, I think it’s settled, the losers are auditioning!” Bill knocked on the table like he was a judge in court

Eddie was definitely not auditioning.

***

Richie's POV

_Shakespear_

_Tenessee Williams_

_Oscar Wilde_

_Aphra Behn_

The names Richie explored were foreign, confusing and boring to him. Some of them obviously held familiarity to him, like Shakespeare and he swears he’s heard the name Oscar Wilde before, but god help him if he could understand a single word of this gibberish.

Currently the words on the pages of Romeo and Juliet were floating in and out of focus before him. He sat crosslegged on his bed with the book in his lap.

“This is so fucking dumb! What the hell is a Queen Mab and why is she so into bugs?” Richie groaned. He had read the long drawn out speech ten times over at this point.

Richie had gone to the library straight after school in order to ask the librarian for suggestions for easy monologues. She handed him a pile of books with notes of scene and act numbers, all in roman numerals. He needed Eddie to decipher them for him.

The idea of theatre actually excited Richie. Getting to be on stage and be silly. Having all attention on him. Getting to dress up in costumes! All of that sounded so exciting.

But this part wasn’t. Acting was one thing. Reading was another.

“I still can’t believe you’re actually planning on doing this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you attempt to use your desperate need for attention in a controlled environment before” Eddie teased.

“Oh shut up, don’t be bitter just because you can’t act”

“It’s not that I can’t act, I’m just not in the business of making a fool of myself”

Richie knew Eddie was just joking. That’s just what they did. Neither of them ever cared about anything enough to have their feelings hurt.

Richie knew this wasn’t a big deal but for some reason it hurt.

“But” He continued, putting down his comic book and grabbing the book off Richie’s lap “if you want wander your big dumb ass onto that stage, let’s at least make it worth it” He smiled softly and began reading over the speech, trying to pull any sort of understanding.

“Aw, Eddie, I didn’t know you felt that way about my ass!”

“Shut the fuck up Chee and come here. Let’s work on this” Eddie scooted closed to Richie on the bed, pressing his shoulder against his.

Richie’s heart beat faster than ever in moments like this. Calm, quiet moments where they weren’t fighting each other and acting like over grown twelve year olds. Whether it was the two of them alone in the hammock, wandering through the forest or sitting in the silence, reading comics together, the calm quiets moments were those that Richie, in all his secret love and desperation, treasured the most.


	2. Audition Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They pushed through the second set of doors and all of a sudden everything became a lot more real. The walls were lined with kids Richie had never even seen before. Kids doing splits and hitting high notes even Freddie Mercury couldn’t hit. It felt like he just walked into the glittery, talented underbelly of their high school. 
> 
> Bill gulped audibly beside him. All of a sudden, Richie’s audition felt extremely underrehearsed and underprepared. 
> 
> “Do you feel like you’re going to shit your pants or is it just me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowee, its been a month but I'm back! I literally have most of this fic already written out but for some reason I really procrastinated on this one. After writing two one shots and publishing one of them (its Reddie and The Sims, if that interest you, check it out!) I finally came back to this and writing chappy 2 was a breeze! I really enjoyed writing this and I can't wait to hopefully update more consistently.  
> Plz enjoy. <3

Richie POV

“I can’t believe you forgot to prepare a song for a _musical_ audition!” Eddie chided him

“Hey, I didn’t forget. I just remembered last minute!” Richie defended himself. And he had! Anyways, Richie was a man who worked best under pressure. He stayed up until 3am memorizing Beauty School Drop Out and creating choreo. It wasn’t exactly his first pick but Grease on VHS was the only musical he owned.

Eddie and Bill, who flanked him on either sides, both rolled their eyes. “Can you ever be prepared for anything?”

“Whoa there Buddy, I’m always prepared when I show up to your mom's”

“I fucking hate you and hope you fall of a cliff”

“A simple break a leg would have worked too, Eds. But thank you!”

The three boys pulled up to the back stage door.

“Well, Eddie baby, this is where we part ways! Kiss for good luck?”

“I hope you choke and fail” He said blankly “And I hope you do amazing, Bill!”

Richie just laughed and ruffled Eddie’s hair, earning him an even deadlier glare. If looks could kill.

If looks could kill, Richie would probably be dead no matter the expression his best friend wore.

“Thanks Eddie!” Bill smiled brightly, ignoring the current drama. The rest of the gang was more than used to their antics at this point. They’d probably be more worried if Eddie wasn’t planning Richie’s death.

But as long as he was on Eddie’s mind, he didn’t really care.

That was a pitiful thought and Richie should probably have been embarrassed by it but he was too far gone at this point. This was just his life.

Eddie continued down the hall and rounded the corner. It was unfortunately a closed audition so Eddie was not welcome.Not that he didn’t try. He talked to Mrs. Kieth this morning (and if there’s anything Eddie was, it was a talker. The only one to rival Richie, honestly) but she stood frustratingly strong on her stance. Richie would have felt better if Eddie was there to watch him.

“You ready to do this thing, Rich?”

Big Bill would just have to do. 

Bill and Richie made their way into the cross over hall that was situated behind the theatre. Before today, Richie had thought of that hall as the perfect place to hide when ditching class or smoke when it was too cold out but it was interesting to know that it had other purposes.

Pattie Blum sat at a fold out table with a clipboard in front of her. She smiled brightly at the two of them.

“Hey Richie, Hi Bill!” She greeted them bubbly. “I’m kinda surprised to see you two here, but this is cool!” Pattie existed in the realm of cool but not mean. They had been going to the same school since they were kids and she had managed not to make their lives a living hell. That made her a good egg in Richie’s book. Plus Stan said they went to the same synagogue and that she was nice to him there.

They both handed her their tapes and she handed them each a number and wrote some stuff on her clip board before giving them the go ahead.

They pushed through the second set of doors and all of a sudden everything became a lot more real. The walls were lined with kids Richie had never even seen before. Kids doing splits and hitting high notes even Freddie Mercury couldn’t hit. It felt like he just walked into the glittery, talented underbelly of their high school.

Bill gulped audibly beside him. All of a sudden, Richie’s audition felt extremely underrehearsed and underprepared.

“Do you feel like you’re going to shit your pants or is it just me?” Richie asked with just a little waver in his voice. It was so very rare for Richie to ever step out of his comfort zone. His comfort zone was HUGE. Outside of cutting his hair and telling Eddie how he felt, there was nothing he couldn’t do. He’ll have to add singing and dancing in front of his peers to that list.

“What do we really have to lose?” Bill responded.

Eddie would have just told him to shut the fuck up and do it. Somehow that would have made him feel better than Bill’s words

_What did he have to lose?_

Somehow it was nothing and everything all at the same time. On one hand, he made a fool out of himself all the time, this was nothing new. But at the same time, for some reason, these random theatre kids’ opinions mattered to him?Nervous was not Richie’s colour.

***

“He th-thrusts his fists against the p-p-p-p-Fuck!” Bill thew he head back against the wall. The two had found their place in line and their turns were slowly but steadily approaching.

“Billy, My Boy, you need to relax a little” Richie tried to help. That was pretty rich, coming from him, who's heart was going a mile a minute as he tried to unscramble his monologue in his brain. But none the less he continued. “You have rehearsed this so much, Bill and when you get on stage everything will just fall into place.”

“God, I really fucking hope so” Bill chuckled under his breath “But thanks, Rich” The boys bumped shoulders and Bill went back to his monologue, calmer and smoother this time.

“Amidst the mists and f-fiercest frosts. With barest wrists and-“

“Hey Bill!” A far too lively voice interrupted. It was the catalyst for this whole situation. _Audra Phillips._

The gang liked to tease Bill about his crush on Audra but it was in no way unfounded. Audra was tan and tall and had a smile like a 1950’s starlet. Her hair was big and curled just like Cindy Crawford and every single mean girl in the school. But Audra wasn’t necessarily mean (Bill wouldn’t like a mean girl), she was just very very cool. 

“Oh h-hey Audra” Bill smiled.

“We’re just coming around to make sure everyone feels comfy!” She continued, as lively as ever.

“Yeah, and check if you had any questions” someone else piped in from behind her.

Richie almost swallowed his tongue trying not to yelp.

It was Connor Bowers.

Richie knew in theory that Conner went to his school. He spent his first year of high school desperately avoiding him but as time went on, their paths just never seemed to cross. They never seemed to share classes since Richie was in all AP and never never shared a lunch period, they obviously didn’t share any friends since his cousin was the losers’ biggest tormentor.

It was four years since that summer but seeing Connor again sent everything rushing back like the broken dam in the Barrens. The arcade, the feelings he had, the whiplash, the name calling, the pain and embarrassment. Other than the clown, that was the most traumatic part of the summer of 1989.

“Hey Richie” Connor smiled at him as if nothing had ever happened. The sneer that plagued Richie’s memory fadedover Connor’s face like a music video transition. He had the same chip in his tooth that he had four years ago. He had braces now, though. His mouth was moving. He was saying stuff…that Richie was completely missing because we was too busy noticing how Connor’s jaw had squared out a lot since he was 13.

“Wha?” Was all Richie could muster

“I just said that I think it’s really cool that you’re auditioning. You definitely have the energy of a drama kid, I’m surprised it hadn’t happened sooner!”All the heat that was rising in his face ran cold. How could he stand here and talk to him like he hadn’t turned on him on him and ripped into him. Like he hadn’t set his devil of a cousin on him.

“I’m not a fucking drama kid, I’m just being a good friend for Billy here”

Bill gave him a _what the fuck, bro_ look before turning back to the pair and saying “Sorry, Rich is sorta nervous right now” _Don’t tell him what the fuck I am_ , Richie wanted to contest. “But what he means is that auditioning was my idea. I just thought, ya know, last year of high school, gotta take some risks!”

Audra nodded her head animatedly, smiling in her Marilyn Monroe way, completely unfazed by Richie’s outburst. Connor continued to give his stupid ass easy smile. “That’s a great idea!” He began “I’m directing this year so I can assure you that it’ll be a good time”

He and Audra turned to make their way down the rest of the queue but he turned back one last time “Oh, and Richie? No need to be nervous, I’m sure you’ll be great, I’ll see you out there!”

What the fuck kind of head game was he playing? If Connor thinks he can throw off Richie’s game by being all weird and nice, he’s got another thing coming. If there was one thing Richie was great at, it was exceeding expectation when least expected. He was funnier than people expected, smarter than people expected and now he was going to prove that he was a better performer than people expected.

“Fuck Connor Bowers”

“Dude, come on, that was totally unnecessary!” Bill chided “Like, I get he’s cousins with Henry but he never really did anything wrong”

Richie never told The Losers what happened that day. It required divulging too much information that he wasn’t prepared to give. He was also too hurt, embarrassed and also absolutely scared shitless by the whole clown aspect to really want to ever bring it up again.

“Yeah, I guess”

***

Bill’s turn was up next. Richie hasn’t yet decided if that was a blessing or a curse. On one hand, maybe seeing Bill go up there first, in all his stuttering glory will give Richie a little bit more hope for himself. But on the other hand Bill might just go out there and smash it like he does with everything and leave Riche feeling worse off than before. Was it better to just rip off the bandaid? Either way, Bill was taking his last deep breath before stepping out onto the stage.

“Break a leg, Big Bill!” He stage whispered as he went.

Bill stood on the X like Pattie had instructed them when they finally made it to the front of the line. He squinted a little under the harsh lights but Richie could see his jaw set. Bill was the most brave and determined out of all of them, if anyone could do this, it was him.

Bill began his monologue strong. He didn’t stutter until finished up with _g-g-ghost,_ which albeit was a little Scooby-Dooesque, added to the drama of it all. For his song he sang Mr. Cellophane from Chicago. Riche’s parents went to see the premier of Chicago on Broadway the year before he was born. Apparently it was the last fun thing his parents did before becoming parents and Went won’t let Richie forget it. Bill’s rendition made Chicago seem a lot less lame. He stayed cool and calm like Bill normally did but still managed to give power, humour and emotion. Everything that everyone tried so hard to do and be, Bill could do without the slightest bit of effort. He could also sing, which they all found out in 1990 when when Fleetwood Mac’s new album came out and he wouldn’t shut up.

All in all, Bill did as good as Bill always does. At that point, Richie was a little bit to stressed out to really pay attention to how things ended. Next thing he knew, Bill was gone and Pattie was looking expectantly at him. “Remember the X!” She reminded him as he passed.

Richie stepped out and was greeted by some omniscient voice. “Hello Richard”. It was probably Mrs. Kieth but she sounded weird over the microphone. “You can start your audition when you’re ready”

The lights were brighter than they seemed from the wings. It reflected off his glasses weird and he couldn’t see farther than his own hand. But what were the stage lights compared to the deadlights? Absolutely nothing! That weird invincibility began taking over his brain. The one that let him get into rock fights and jump off cliffs and battle demon clowns.

“I’d like to start with my monologue, please” He cleared his throat and began “O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you…” The words just came to him as he went. He had read, recited, dreamed about this monologue since he decided to do this. He remembered his inflections and the beats and Eddie’s notes on “how to not sound like a total dumbass”

The speech came to an end and Richie was almost surprised, like he was watching himself perform it. At this point his eyes had gotten semi used to the lights and he could now see the row of people.

Mrs. Kieth pulled the microphone to her lips again “That was very good Richard, are you ready to do your song? Have you provided your music already?”

He was and he did and told them just that. The adrenalin was sparking in his fingertips and only a very very tiny part of himself was embarrassed for being so exhilarated after reciting Shakespeare.

The soft harp music began and he did what he did best. Make a fool of himself. He twirled and leapt and shimmied his shoulders. He got a little too excited when he got to say hooker but who wouldn’t? Richie knew he wasn’t the best singer in the world, far from it, but sometimes making people laugh was more important. He wrapped up the song with his arms in the air and his chest heaving.

“Wow, Richie! That was awso-“ Connor began, who had stolen the mic from Kieth, but was interrupted by her warning cough. “I mean, that was very well done, Richie. Thank you so much for auditioning. The cast list will be posted outside the office on Wednesday. Thanks again”

As Richie made his way off the stage, Connor gave him yet another smile (what is that, three now?) and a double thumbs up.

Maybe Connor wasn’t so bad. He was at least a very enthusiastic director. Everyone probably left thinking they were going to get the part by the way he seemed to react. Luckily, Richie was a realist, at least in this case.

***

Eddie POV

“You should have seen him!” Richie was ahead of the gang and walking backwards to face them. “The post and ghost shit was great! He didn’t miss a word!”

“Oh shut up Rich, can you stop talking me up? You sound like my mom at our family reunions when she gets all competitive with her sister.” Rich threw his arm over Bill’s shoulder and finally started walking the right way, _thank god._

“Aw come on, I’m just proud you Billium! He even spoke full sentences to Audra!”

“Good job, Billy! Bev cheered from somewhere behind them with Ben.

“I think you’re very brave for auditioning, Bill” Mike added, ever kind Mike probably trying to veer the conversation away from Audra and save Bill the embarrassment.

“Fuck you Richie, Fuck you Bev, thank you Mike. Okay, can we please shut up now” Bills face was turning pink “Richie, your’s seemed to go well”

At that comment, Rich pulled his arm back and looked a little sheepish. He never did do well with positive attention.

“You wouldn’t even know, you weren’t in the theatre at that point.

“I stayed for a little bit until that random student teacher kicked me out.” He turned to the rest of the gang “His monologue sounded awesome from what I heard. Like with feeling and stuff. I was impressed”

“Yeah, it went fine, I didn’t forget any words, all thanks to my Eddie Spageddie, over here!” He slung his arm over his shoulders and pulled him close. “He’s my night is shining short shorts!”

Shut the fuck up, dumbass! I don’t want you touching me if you’re going to say dumb shit like that” That shut Richie up surprisingly quickly. Everyone broke off into their own conversations and Richie kept his arm around Eddie. It seemed very in character for him to hate it but he never really did. Richie was overly physical and Eddie didn’t get enough positive affection at home. That was just their dynamic.

“Thanks by the way, for helping me out over last week” Richie murmured into his ear.

“Anytime, dude. Did you do well?” Bill already said that Richie seemed to do fine but Eddie only really cared about Richie’s opinion.

“Yes…I think I did. My song was fun and I made people laugh” Eddie really did wish that he could have watched Richie, and not even just to make fun of him later. It was also just fun watching Richie do his thing and do it well. Richie was one of those people that did most things well if he tried.

“Then I’m really proud of you”

Richie bumped his head softly against Eddie’s before tuning back to face front. There was a soft blush rising on his cheeks. Richie really could never take a compliment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! Sorry for any spelling mistake, I really do try to catch them all. If you miss Stan, Mike, Ben and Bev, do not worry, they will have bigger parts in this story as we forge onwards!


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